Cambridge United deadline day signing George Taft may yet have a future at parent club Mansfield Town, according to Stags assistant boss Paul Raynor.

Taft, who had a loan spell with the Us two years ago, became a victim of the huge turnover in players at Mansfield and returned to the Cambs Glass Stadium last Thursday.

The defender will stay with his former club until January, at which point the 24 year old's longer term future will be decided.

“He comes back in January, and we’ll keep an eye on how he does at Cambridge,” Raynor told the Mansfield Chad.

“We think it’s a good move for him. We thought his game time at the moment might be limited here, so it was an opportunity for him to go out and play.

“We don’t like to keep people sitting in the stands, so to speak, and not involved. We just felt with the defensive cover we have, George was the one that would probably lack a bit of game time with us.

“So it made sense for him to get out there and play, given that he’s spent a lot of time on the sidelines with injury last year. Game time will be essential for him.

“He has been a little bit unlucky, but it just shows you the back-up we’ve got and the quality in those defensive areas that we can allow George to go out and get that game time.”

Taft, who made 13 Us appearances during his last spell at the club, did not feature in Saturday's 1-0 win over Colchester United.

His only game time this season came in the Checkatrade Trophy, for Mansfield against Lincoln City.